Psionics and the Mystic

Psionics and the Mystic Welcome to Unearthed Arcana, a monthly workshop gauge where we should start and what kind of where D&D R&D shows off a variety of new and approach to psionics in fifth edition will work best. interesting pieces of RPG design for use at your Read on and enjoy. gaming table. You can think of the material presented in this series as similar to the first wave of the fifth edition Psionics playtest. These game mechanics are in draft form, The following rules cover the basics of psionic power, usable in your campaign but not fully tempered by its application, and its relationship to magic. playtests and design iterations. They are highly volatile and might be unstable; if you use them, be What is Psionics? ready to rule on any issues that come up. They’re written in pencil, not ink. Psionics is a source of power that originates from The material presented in Unearthed Arcana will within a creature’s mind, allowing it to augment its range from mechanics that we expect one day to physical abilities and affect the minds of other publish in a supplement to house rules from our home creatures. Psionic abilities are called disciplines, campaigns that we want to share, from core system since each one consists of a set of specific, rigid options to material designed for specific campaign mental exercises needed to place a creature in the settings. Once it’s out there, you can expect us to correct mindset to wield psionic power. check in with you to see how it’s working out and A creature wielding psionic power focuses its what we can do to improve it. concentration on a discipline, and in doing so, manifests a minor psionic effect. Once a creature has concentrated on a discipline, it can then tap into its Introduction reservoir of inner energy to create even greater effects. This month, Unearthed Arcana goes big with a look at The basics of a discipline are always within a the first draft of psionics rules for fifth edition D&D. mystic’s grasp, but the energies needed to create more This article provides a quick overview of how potent effects tap into a limited reservoir of power. psionics works and presents a new class—the mystic. Similar to how the cleric represents a wide variety of Otherworldly Power divine magic users, the mystic encapsulates a variety Not every D&D world features psionic power to the of characters who wield psionic power. same extent. Psionics indirectly originates from the Using the options presented in this article, you can Far Realm, a dimension outside the bounds of the play a mystic to 5th level, following one of two known multiverse. The Far Realm has its own alien psionic orders and training in that order’s unique laws of physics and magic. When its influence disciplines. Following the Order of the Awakened extends to a world, the Far Realm invariably spawns allows you to create a mystic who manipulates the horrific monsters and madness as it bends reality to its minds and awareness of other creatures, and who can own rules. tap into unseen psionic power both in and out of As the laws of reality twist and turn, individual combat. Following the Order of the Immortal allows minds can be awakened to the cosmic underpinnings you to create a mystic who focuses psionic power in that dictate the form and nature of reality. The tumult combat, similar to the battlemind or psychic warrior caused by the Far Realm creates echoes that can of previous editions. Other options for the mystic will disturb and awaken minds that would otherwise appear as the playtest progresses and we gain slumber. Such awakened creatures look upon the valuable feedback about the class’s mechanics in play. world in the same way that creatures existing in three As usual, you can expect a survey asking for dimensions might look upon a two-dimensional realm. feedback on these draft rules in about a month or so. They see possibilities, options, and connections that At this point, we’re not necessarily tied to any of are unfathomable to those with a more limited view of these options. This effort is merely a first draft to reality. ©2015 Wizards of the Coast LLC 1 In worlds that are relatively stable and hew close to A mystic’s psi points cannot be reduced below 0. A the archetypal D&D setting presented in the core mystic’s psi point total returns to its maximum after rulebooks, psionics is rare—or might not exist at all. the character finishes a long rest. The cosmic bindings that define the multiverse are strong in such places, making it unlikely that an Psionics and Magic individual mind can perceive the possibilities offered by psionics. Mystics in such worlds might be so Psionics and magic are two distinct forces. In general, scarce that an active mystic never meets another an effect that alters or affects a spell has no effect on living practitioner of the psionic arts. Characters a psionic effect. There is one important exception to might unlock their psionic potential by pure random this rule. A psionic effect that reproduces a spell is chance, and ancient tomes, journals, and other treated as magic. A psionic effect reproduces a spell accounts of mystics might serve as the only guide to when it allows a psionic creature or character to cast a mastering this form of power. spell. In this case, psionic energy taps into magic and Psionics is more common in worlds where the manipulates it to cast the spell. bounds of reality have been twisted and warped to For example, the mind flayer as presented in the stray far from the baseline D&D setting. The realm of Monster Manual has the Innate Spellcasting Athas in the Dark Sun campaign setting is the iconic (Psionics) feature. This feature allows the mind flayer example of a world where psionics is common. The to cast a set of spells using psionic energy. These gods are absent, magic has been twisted into an spells can be countered with dispel magic and similar ecological scourge, and the common threads that bind effects. many worlds of D&D have been sundered. By contrast, the world of Eberron is a setting where the Using a Discipline bounds of reality have been tested but not fully broken. Psionics is not as pervasive in Eberron as in When a mystic uses a discipline, the same basic rules Athas, but the influence of the otherworldly realm of are followed, regardless of the mystic’s level or the Xoriat makes it a known and studied art. discipline’s effects. Disciplines Activation and Concentration A mystic activates a discipline as a bonus action. A psionic discipline is a rigid set of mental exercises. Once a discipline is activated, it remains active as A mystic must devote concentration to a discipline to long as the mystic maintains concentration on it. use it. Psionics is powerful enough that concentration Concentrating on a discipline uses the same rules as alone can create psionic effects, though such effects concentrating on a spell. Among other things, this are subtle or limited. means that a mystic can maintain concentration only Once a mystic learns a discipline, the character on one discipline at a time, and that any effect that knows that discipline until he or she chooses to purge causes a mystic to lose concentration causes the it. A discipline requires exhaustive study and constant discipline to end. Ending concentration on a practice to maintain its use. A mystic masters only a discipline immediately ends all the discipline’s effects, few disciplines at a time. unless the discipline’s description says otherwise. Disciplines have no level. Their effect is instead Once a discipline is active, it remains active as long determined by the psionic energy devoted to them. as a mystic can maintain concentration on the discipline. Certain disciplines have effects that can Psi Points occur before combat starts, so it’s important for those disciplines to be active beforehand. A mystic has an internal reservoir of energy that can be devoted to the disciplines he or she knows, Spending Psi Points allowing those disciplines to create more powerful Each discipline features options that can create effects. This energy is represented by psi points. additional effects if a mystic spends an indicated Each discipline describes additional optional effects a number of psi points. (A discipline option that has an mystic can create with that discipline by spending psi asterisk to indicate the number of psi points that must points. ©2015 Wizards of the Coast LLC 2 be spent on it can be used with a varying number of discipline does not combine with itself if that option psi points, as indicated in the option’s text.) Each is used multiple times. Instead, the most potent option notes specific information about its effect, effect—usually dependent on how many psi points including the action required to use it (if any), its were used to create the effect—applies while the range, and other details. If an option does not state durations of the effects overlap. that it is used as an action, a bonus action, or a Psionics and magic are separate effects, and reaction, using it requires no action. therefore their benefits and drawbacks overlap. A The maximum number of psi points a mystic can psionic effect that reproduces a spell is an exception spend on a single discipline option is based on class to this rule (see “Psionics and Magic,” above, and level.

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